tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87394114711556206682012-02-01T15:33:32.285-05:00Thoughts from the staff at David R. Godine, PublisherGodinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02707441296077427511noreply@blogger.comBlogger5391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-36124629183426865412012-02-01T15:19:00.003-05:002012-02-01T15:33:32.293-05:00

In 1991, David R. Godine published People with AIDS, photographs by Nicholas Nixon, the distinguished large-format photographer from Brookline, and text by Bebe Nixon. Fifteen extraordinary people with AIDS volunteered to work with the Nixons; Nicholas Nixon's straightforward and uncontrived photographs combine with Bebe Nixon's faithful rendering of a myriad of conversations and letters. The

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-78721902934760581822012-01-31T12:56:00.003-05:002012-01-31T13:08:47.357-05:00

Illocuionary a In linguistics, an act carried out as an intrinsic consequence of an utterance, as for example the performance of a baptism ceremony, or the fulfillment of a promise. "You remember what I said I would do to you, young man, if you disobeyed your parents and failed to attend Sunday school this morning? And you remember my mention of the word 'illocutionary'? You will not, then be

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-29862548190310321812012-01-25T12:14:00.003-05:002012-01-25T12:28:09.051-05:00

The Washington Post was kind enough to include this excellent review of Godine's All My Dogs by Bill Henderson in a round up "about how dogs, especially the ornery ones, can transform a life":Pushcart Press founder Bill Henderson had the sound idea of chronicling his life through the dogs who shared it, and All My Dogs (Godine, $19.95) handily wins Best in Show. From Trixie, who taught him “to

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-81026358807854126112012-01-24T14:44:00.002-05:002012-01-24T14:48:53.389-05:00

Latibulize v To hibernate. Function of a teenager during that part of the morning when papers are being brought in, cats being fed, garbage cans put out, digital clocks being reset after overnight power failures, etc., etc.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-88701552646686876882012-01-24T10:51:00.003-05:002012-01-24T10:58:16.252-05:00

Both The Philosopher's Diet by Richard Watson and Black Sparrow's Cheyenne Madonna by Eddie Chuculate have been available as an eBook via the Google eBookstore for a while. Now, we're happy to say, both titles are available through the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble nook, and many more eBook retailers.For those of you with an e-reader by your side, please check out each title's book page on

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-41194900371725591752012-01-18T15:52:00.003-05:002012-01-18T16:30:11.168-05:00

Black Sparrow author, Aram Saroyan, will be the visiting artist at the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago from January 23rd–25th in celebration of the release of the artists' book Four Monologues, designed and published under the Center's Epicenter imprint. Saroyan will give a public lecture ("My Journey as a Writer") in addition to attending a staged reading of Four

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-87356620776377286342012-01-17T15:11:00.002-05:002012-01-17T15:16:43.716-05:00

Huggermugger n, a, adv, v.t, v.i This grammatically chameleonic term denotes secrecy, clandestine activity, muddle, and/or confusion – generally all at once. A useful synonym for "Executive Management Team Meeting." The author admits to a weakness to a weakness for such double-barreled colloquialisms: "argle-bargle" or "argy-bargy," meaning a dispute or wrangle, and "arsy-versy," meaning

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-35181979682045510532012-01-10T14:39:00.001-05:002012-01-10T14:41:53.977-05:00

Otiose a Serving no useful purpose. Alternatively: leisurely. Both meanings presumably come from the same Latin origin, otium (leisure) – in the former case no doubt via the intermediate concept of idle. The overtones of odius, adipose, and obsese make this a useful word for unsettling the ignorant in a casual conversation.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-1528903836030833212012-01-09T12:02:00.002-05:002012-01-09T12:10:48.959-05:00

We were thrilled to see our own Juliana Spahr included in a poetry roundup last week in The Nation. Stephen Burt reviewed the new books of poems by Spahr, Noah Eli Gordon, Anna Moschovakis, and Kathleen Ossip. According to Burt, "all four poets are reacting to big modern systems, above all to the system called capitalism, whose results and failures seem inescapable, from the swells of the North

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-54908084685641042752012-01-03T12:51:00.002-05:002012-01-03T12:55:30.673-05:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! In honor of the new year and the promises we make . . .Resipiscence n Recognizing one's own error, or errors; seeing reason once again. "I'm sure all of us look forward to your ultimate resipiscence, Jeremy."Lacking resipiscence:Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-38090219596243891152011-12-21T11:03:00.003-05:002011-12-21T11:12:26.792-05:00

Just in time for a last minute gift purchase, the Boston Globe published the "Best poetry books of 2011" on Sunday. Michael Brodeur, Valerie Duff, and Black Sparrow's own Don Share contributed their individual lists.From Don Share:“Threshold Songs’’ by Peter Gizzi (Wesleyan)“Poems’’ by Elizabeth Bishop (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)“Spring and All’’ by William Carlos Williams (New Directions Pearls)

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-30027328567223430752011-12-15T10:10:00.003-05:002011-12-15T10:32:54.226-05:00

Beloved Godine author, Russell Hoban, passed away on December 13th, 2011 at age 86. We are proud to publish Hoban's Linger Awhile: A Novel (2007), a tale of murder and mayhem in contemporary London where sexy vampire cowgirls (yes, that's right) run amok, chased by men old enough to know better. In a different vain, we also publish two of Hoban's popular children's books, How Tom Beat Captain

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-30955500820159653982011-12-13T15:44:00.004-05:002011-12-13T15:51:12.900-05:00

Alphitomancy n. A method of determining the guilt or innocence of a person by feeding him a barley loaf. If indigestion ensues, the person is guilty. Some may say that if indigestion ensues after eating anything at all prepared by their best beloved, they are held by the latter to be guilty.Contemporary alphitomancy:Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-70382376182195224762011-12-09T15:37:00.004-05:002011-12-09T15:47:20.803-05:00

Over at The Millions, Hannah Gersen has posted a list of "12 Holiday Girls That Writers Will Actually Use". She shares her insight as a frequent receiver of writerly gifts and has brilliant ideas for the budding novelist in your life:In “Aren’t You Dead Yet?”, one of the stories in Elissa Schappell’s new collection, Blueprints for Building Better Girls, the narrator, an aspiring writer, receives

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-7699905082761645932011-12-06T14:52:00.003-05:002011-12-06T15:04:36.025-05:00

Gynotikolobomassophile n Someone who likes to nibble on a woman's earlobe. Truly, there is a name for everything. This one is reported in the amazing dictionary of verbal exotica compiled by Mrs. Josefa Heifetz Byrne (the daughter of Jascha Heifetz, incidentally). One for the Personals: "Gynotikolobomassophile wishes to meet woman with large ears."Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-63941031343617931932011-11-30T10:32:00.002-05:002011-11-30T10:42:52.063-05:00

William Zinsser is best known for his book On Writing Well (1976). He was also a movie critic for the New York Herald Tribune in the 1960s and recently blogged for The American Scholar on Daniel Fuchs, a Black Sparrow author. In 1937, Fuchs at twenty-seven years old and already the author of three remarkable novels came to Hollywood from Brooklyn. Thus began a lifelong love affair with the movie

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-27758734254435132932011-11-29T15:39:00.002-05:002011-11-29T15:44:43.328-05:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!Algophobia n The morbid dread of pain. As a warning to those who have been lulled into a false sense of security at the dentist's by the latter's more or less routine use of local anesthetics, the author, a true algophobe, relates this cautionary tale of his encounter with a London dentist. "It's just a little one," said the dentist, in the most

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-27234020482098576702011-11-22T14:44:00.003-05:002011-11-22T14:55:03.497-05:00

To celebrate Thanksgiving a good number of us return to our childhood hometowns . . . which brings us to today's Superior Person's word:Nostopathy n A morbid dread of returning to one's home.OK. One more for the holiday:Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-50371548753021274112011-11-21T13:59:00.003-05:002011-11-21T14:04:02.864-05:00

For a limited time—with any order of $25.00 or more, receive a free copy ofNot Forgotten: American Writers Remember the Lives of Literary Mentors, Friends & Rivals, compiled by Steven Gilbar and Dean Stewart. For orders over $50.00, you'll also receive for free a copy of the fully illustrated children's book Electra to the Rescue: Saving a Steamboat and the Story of Shelburne Museum by Valerie

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-62712009127053461462011-11-17T16:00:00.004-05:002011-11-17T16:14:42.222-05:00

Jane Jacobs’s work is alive and well in Dorchester, MA. On Veteran’s Day evening in the middle of a holiday weekend, a standing-room only crowd filled All Saints parish hall in Dorchester’s Ashmont neighborhood for a Dorchester Speakers Forum on urban heroine Jane Jacobs. Panelists included 1988 Democratic presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis; M. David Lee,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-24276438155788548482011-11-15T14:17:00.003-05:002011-11-15T14:23:16.494-05:00

Glabrous a Having a surface free from hair or other projections. Smooth-skinned, smooth-leafed. When introducing a guest speaker who suffers from alopecia [ital] (q.v.), you could insert into your remarks a passing reference to his "glabrous pinnacle" without giving offense.One possible usage of a glabrous surface:On the day Homer quits the power plant,he insults Mr. Burns and plays his bald head

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-78952687156285380452011-11-08T15:16:00.002-05:002011-11-08T15:27:09.306-05:00

For those in the Boston area, the Dorchester Speakers Forum is presenting a panel discussion this Friday, November 11th at 7:30pm entitled "50 Years Later: Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities". Jacobs is considered one of the country's most influential urban planning activists and was a critical part of the development of Boston.David R. Godine, Publisher published Genius of

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-30755918236934178702011-11-08T12:12:00.004-05:002011-11-08T12:17:32.201-05:00

Nuncheon n A noon drink. "I'll just leave the accounts till this afternoon if you don't mind, Miles; I find that I'm running late for a nuncheon appointment."A nuncheon with luncheonGood reason for a nuncheonEach Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-1262909446083545612011-11-04T11:15:00.003-04:002011-11-04T11:20:16.495-04:00

Here's a comic courtesy of xkcd ("A Webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math and Language") for you this beautiful Friday afternoon:

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-42003237589131696812011-11-01T14:23:00.005-04:002011-11-01T14:28:48.157-04:00

You know it's the beginning of the holiday season when Starbucks's red cups are everywhere and eggnog seems to be in everything . . .Polyphagia n Excessive eating. "Ah, yuletide blessed season of joy! The Christmas tree, the decorations, the gifts, the carols, the sleigh bells, the polyphagia . . . "Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-17462311002844370212011-10-26T11:52:00.005-04:002011-10-26T12:27:16.500-04:00

Georges Perec's novella "The Exeter Text: Jewels, Secrets, Sex" (included in Three by Perec, Godine 2004) uses only the vowel "e" and no others (honest). It is known as a complement or reciprocal to A Void (Godine, 2005) which avoids all and any words containing the commonest letter in the alphabet—(you guessed it) "e." Why would Perec constrain his writing in this way? Well, Perec was never one

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-60161870422729090892011-10-25T14:37:00.002-04:002011-10-25T14:43:28.893-04:00

Recubation n Reclining in a near-horizontal position, as did ancient Romans at the banquet table. "There'll be no recubation at this dinner table, young man! Sit up straight – and take off the baseball cap!"Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-45790785441587433012011-10-25T11:54:00.002-04:002011-10-25T12:04:43.972-04:00

Black Sparrow poet Wanda Coleman is known as "the LA Blueswoman" and "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles." She has just published her latest book, The World Falls Away, with the University of Pittsburgh Press and the collection focuses on her life in Southern California. KPCC (Southern California Public Radio) recently featured a piece on Coleman:For the last 40 years, Los Angeles-based

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-41008530707814034362011-10-19T14:46:00.003-04:002011-10-19T15:40:06.773-04:00

The 2011 Boston Book Festival was an astounding success for the Godine team. We arrived promptly at 8:30am and proceeded to deliberate with surprising passion as to the best arrangement for our 200 books. Following several ingenious innovations in design, we acquired some tissue paper and scotch tape and transformed our cardboard boxes to make a makeshift (but very professional) side display.Even

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-67101339235011973012011-10-18T13:23:00.003-04:002011-10-18T13:50:41.757-04:00

Dactylogram n Fingerprint. A casual reference to your having been invited by the authorities to let them have your dactylograms may give the listener the impression that you are a distinguished applied mathematician who is called in by the government from time to time in a consultative capacity.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-65736292491043276302011-10-18T11:18:00.007-04:002011-10-18T16:36:46.922-04:00

My mother is a gardener. The pursuit began several years ago pursuant to a certain Michael Pollan book, when she marched into the backyard with a spade and turned over a rectangle of black Iowa soil. The first year’s crop – cabbage – left the local rabbit population in excellent health. For my mother, what began as an experiment became all-out war, and in its second year the garden was outfitted

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-3272117711162325862011-10-11T13:44:00.002-04:002011-10-11T13:50:17.172-04:00

Embonpoint n Plumpness. From the French en bon point (in good shape). Often used of women, and with just a trace of raillery implied. Commonly pronounced in the French fashion; but may be anglicized, in which event you would choose a moment when your neighbor, the zaftig (q.v.) Mrs. Frobisher, is displaying her new sewing machine to your wife, to tell her how much you admire her embonpoint.Each

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-45785266370614811562011-10-11T11:29:00.004-04:002011-10-11T11:34:51.363-04:00

Independent Publisher is currently featuring an article on David R. Godine and the publishing house. Here's an excerpt on how David was first introduced to publishing:“I really got started at Dartmouth because Ray Nash (a legendary teacher there) was giving his courses on ‘Books and Bookmaking’ and ‘Prints and Printmaking.’ These were unusual (at least for Dartmouth) in that they combined serious

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-74169031472325136502011-10-11T11:06:00.002-04:002011-10-11T11:11:32.047-04:00

This past Saturday, translator David Bellos had a great piece in the Wall Street Journal on what translating Godine's Life A User's Manual by Georges Perec taught him:Among the people I thank for their help at the end of my new book about translation is Georges Perec—a French writer famous for having written a whole novel without the letter "e" in it. Perec never met me and never knew he had

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-48344188772216757482011-10-07T14:49:00.007-04:002011-10-07T15:06:08.373-04:00

This year's Boston Book Festival is quickly approaching and, of course, David R. Godine, Publisher will be there, bells on. Come on down to Copley Square on Saturday, October 15th (it's free!) and visit our booth on the square, facing Dartmouth St and the beautiful Boston Public Library. New titles and our backlist will be on sale for 20% off or more; we'd love to chat with you and throw free

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-90286556531210284732011-10-07T11:25:00.003-04:002011-10-07T11:31:59.664-04:00

This post is from one of our beloved past Godine interns, Melanie Sooter. She is now working in publishing in Taipei, Taiwan and recently featured the following entry on her personal blog, Amateur Bohemian:Last May, I attended BookExpo America in New York, NY, a glorious four-day convention for everyone in the book biz. I was working the event for Godine, the house I interned with this spring,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-9980922712701546132011-10-04T13:31:00.002-04:002011-10-04T13:36:50.336-04:00

Aeaeae a. Magic. As in "aeaeae artes," the magic arts. The only all-vowel six-letter word known to the author. The derivation is from Aeaeae, which was a surname of the legendary pig-fancier Circe and the name of a small island off the coast of Italy, said to have been her place of abode. Useful for unscrupulous players of parlor word-games. If taken to task for using it in such circumstances,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-92078023322521366772011-09-30T10:37:00.004-04:002011-09-30T13:09:45.968-04:00

The Jersey Shore gets to run on TV, their stars are featured on daytime talk shows in all their GTL and fist-pumping glory, but you, Huckleberry Finn, are far too derogatory for me to tolerate. Banned! “16 and Pregnant” and its spin-offs are splashed across magazine covers in the grocery store line, but, my goodness, The Hunger Games is too sexually explicit to be available at the local library.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-49039673588256223712011-09-29T13:17:00.003-04:002011-09-29T13:23:43.432-04:00

Banned Books Week is going on right now (September 24th–October 1st). Over at Salon, Laura Miller is asking: "What book did you have to read in elementary or middle school that you wouldn't mind seeing vanish from the reading lists of children everywhere?"One of my favorite replies:" . . . surely the most egregious tale of recklessly required reading comes from Life section editor Sarah Hepola

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-34603407866199683312011-09-27T14:32:00.001-04:002011-09-27T14:37:12.376-04:00

Morology n - In speech or writing, being deliberately foolish or nonsensical as a means of achieving a desired effect. A technique not often employed by the present author, who ordinarily makes his effects by being accidentally foolish or nonsensical.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-65663673046828509382011-09-26T12:09:00.004-04:002011-09-26T12:21:15.822-04:00

A big thank you goes to Publishers Weekly today for the great review of All My Dogs: A Life by Bill Henderson. Henderson is the beloved founder of Pushcart Press and editor and publisher of the annual Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, now in its thirty-fifth year. Godine is thrilled to publish his latest memoir."With dry humor and enviable honesty, this gem by Pushcart Press founder

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-14758737003974043772011-09-23T10:29:00.003-04:002011-09-23T12:28:46.192-04:00

Commemorating a half-century since the publication of Jane Jacobs’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House’s fiftieth-anniversary edition of the influential book bestows special recognition on Genius of Common Sense, which was published by David R. Godine in 2009. Jason Epstein, renowned man of letters in the publishing world and Jane’s longtime editor, has written a new

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-21916913085760891432011-09-21T14:27:00.002-04:002011-09-21T14:41:33.122-04:00

We are excited to have several of our titles for sale as an eBook through Google's eBookstore.A nice variety of titles are available which include Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, Ward Farnsworth's Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric, Daniel Fuchs's The Brooklyn Novels, Charles Reznikoff's By the Waters of Manhattan, and the entire Swallows & Amazons twelve book series by Arthur

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-4842591482275163282011-09-20T12:04:00.002-04:002011-09-20T12:08:47.059-04:00

Cirriped n. A member of an order of crustaceans which in their adult stage attach themselves in a parasitic way to other creatures or objects. As, for example, barnacles. "Dearest, do you think Kimberley might leave home this year and get her own little flat – or is she to be our permanent cirriped?"Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-80836925035400205672011-09-16T10:09:00.002-04:002011-09-16T10:14:17.668-04:00

Congrats go to Wayne Donnell for his excellent entry for the All My Dogs book giveaway! Here is his story and photo:My wife, Deborah, and I had for many years a wonderful Keeshond named Bella. She passed on, and Deborah grieved long and well – unable to consider replacing her until one weekend our daughter, Rachel, and our granddaughter, Claire, came from their home in Asheville, NC for a visit.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-20659014069348820162011-09-14T12:59:00.003-04:002011-09-14T14:02:35.757-04:00

The first ever New Hampshire Book Festival will be bringing state laureates from all around the country for a series of readings and discussions during a two day event (Oct 14th and 15th) called Poetry and Politics. Sixteen poets from around the US will arrive on Oct 13th and spread across the state for free public readings the following day.New Hampshire poet laureate Walter Butts is hosting the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-45625064945407141402011-09-13T13:04:00.003-04:002011-09-13T13:16:15.754-04:00

Deipnosophist: n A wise conversationalist at the dinner table. Unfortunately, the two elements of the definition rarely go together.An example of one who is not a deipnosophist.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-73873400537917476392011-09-06T14:34:00.003-04:002011-09-06T17:17:33.843-04:00

Henchperson - n. Close and trusty follower. This new word has been created by the author to replace its sexist (q.v.) and thus outdated equivalent, henchman, which had gradually acquired, over the years, a pejorative (q.v.) flavor. Villains have henchmen; heroes have right-hand men - or, more properly, right-hand people.Henchmen.Henchgirls.Henchperson.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-26230299526322865252011-08-31T14:02:00.007-04:002011-08-31T14:43:19.457-04:00

Professor Ward Farnsworth was recently featured on The Bill Bennett Show, where he discussed his new book, Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric (published by yours truly). Go to the Podcast to listen to Professor Farnsworth and Bill Bennett talk about history's most persuasive rhetoriticians and what made them so (that's an ellipsis!) Praise for Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric: 

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-24661317505624201522011-08-30T11:01:00.003-04:002011-08-30T11:13:23.386-04:00

Somnifacient - a. Conducive to the onset of sleep; having a hypnotic effect. Also somniferous, a slightly stronger expression of the same sense, meaning sleep-inducing or narcotic.  A televised golf tournament, a line dancing display in the mall, white goods comparison shopping, etc., etc. "This couch is so somnifacie....zzzz." Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-66181814264011710912011-08-23T12:47:00.002-04:002011-08-23T12:55:49.739-04:00

The Wall Street Journal just named Ring of Bright Water: A Trilogy by Gavin Maxwell one of the top five best nature books alongside such classics as Walden by Henry David Thoreau and A Book of Hours by Donald Culross Peattie: No shelf of nature books would be complete without a volume examining the bond between people and those animal species we have invited into our homes—that rich, reciprocal

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-88710812777364262012011-08-23T11:55:00.004-04:002011-08-23T12:02:15.814-04:00

Supernaculum n. A liquor of high quality, fit for drinking to the last drop. "It is a sad thing, Burnaby, that the custom of attending to one's religious devotions, upon arising in the morning and before retiring at night, has fallen into desuetude. In my own little way I try to compensate for that. I pride myself upon the fact that the sun does not rise upon a new day without my giving thanks

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-15772845225481214262011-08-23T11:19:00.005-04:002011-08-24T15:24:56.894-04:00

My name is Hector Ramirez, and among other things I’m an unabashed dog lover. So when I heard that Godine was publishing the upcoming memoir All My Dogs: A Life by Bill Henderson (he founded the Pushcart Press, one of the most influential publishers in the country), I jumped at the chance to read it. Great book, but was it a bad call to read it so soon after leaving my beautiful German Shepherd

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-10359138234849654712011-08-22T09:30:00.007-04:002011-08-22T09:52:30.203-04:00

David R. Godine has put the romance back into writing books and publishing them. Many of us writers have endured the book signing at the mega-store at the suburban mall. You sell maybe seven copies in two hours, and are rewarded with a cup of tepid coffee. Or worse, I once signed books at a pleasant independent bookseller's in Providence, RI. But it was snowing, hard, and no one showed at all,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-63486245031315428742011-08-19T11:57:00.002-04:002011-08-19T11:59:44.721-04:00

Watch out Daniel Radcliffe! The film is due out February 3, 2012. David R. Godine, Publisher is thrilled to publish the US edition of The Woman in Black.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-58658822328035609772011-08-16T14:45:00.003-04:002011-08-16T14:50:12.770-04:00

Chaetiferous a. Bearing bristles. Also chaetigerous and chaetopherous. If your boyfriend must start growing a beard, at least you ought to know what to call him. Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-67090270251265873872011-08-09T10:15:00.004-04:002011-08-09T10:21:54.523-04:00

Philogyny a. The love of, indeed devotion to, women. The most understandable of idiosyncrasies. "WOMAN, WOMAN!!" (Proof for anyone who doubts that Animal is the original ladies' man) Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-30636474600283484652011-08-08T12:06:00.002-04:002011-08-08T12:18:44.334-04:00

The incomparable Wanda Coleman, a beloved Black Sparrow poet, has a new book of poetry forthcoming from the University of Pittsburgh Press in September 2011. The collection, The World Falls Away, has already received incredible praise: "Wanda Coleman's poems glow with an almost radioactive edginess. Yet there is also range and substance giving her intense American voice staying power. To use

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-5461293574415228832011-08-03T13:22:00.002-04:002011-08-03T13:26:51.178-04:00

In an interview with Yvonne Georgina Puig for the online culture and arts magazine This Recording, Black Sparrow author Aram Saroyan discusses his early literary influences (“for me,” Saroyan says, “the initiating figure was Robert Creeley”), his writing process (“these days I usually do a first draft in hand in one of those lined school notebooks that you can buy at Staples”), his perspective on

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-23316556480540490642011-08-02T12:32:00.002-04:002011-08-02T12:35:33.572-04:00

Clinomania n. Excessive desire to stay in bed. Not a bad mania, as manias go; and a reasonably plausible excuse for taking Monday off.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Clinomania appears in the

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-81281534746366282082011-07-28T13:25:00.007-04:002011-07-28T13:35:08.617-04:00

Holdouts!: The Buildings that Got in the Way by Andrew Alpern and Seymour Durst chronicles the history of New York City buildings that refused to sell to developers (with often absurd results). Godine, with the Old York Foundation, has brought it back with a new edition. First published in 1984 by McGraw-Hill and then in 1997 by Dover Publications as New York’s Architectural Holdouts, this third

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-61661054170765598992011-07-26T12:35:00.002-04:002011-07-26T12:40:21.704-04:00

Juvenescent a. Becoming youthful. An extraordinary word, when you think about it. After all, no one does this. Why should there be a word for it?Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Juvenescent

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-60265425601819446622011-07-25T12:09:00.002-04:002011-07-25T12:13:41.162-04:00

The latest Black Sparrow release, Well Then There Now by Juliana Spahr, has just received a fabulous starred review in Publishers Weekly!"Spahr's fifth book of imaginative writing (both poems and prose) should be a blockbuster, a lasting disturbance; a work of crisp wit, bizarre conjunctions and ultimately enduring moral authority; it is also the best, and perhaps the most widely accessible,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-46250097227270272332011-07-22T11:24:00.003-04:002011-07-22T11:45:01.140-04:00

Somehow the words “field trip” still hold every bit of excitement that they did ten odd years ago in grade school. To start off this week, John, Hector, and I spent two work days in various parts of New Hampshire learning all about key elements in the publishing process.First stop: Our warehouse in Jaffrey, NH. There we put faces to the familiar names of other members of the Godine team, toured

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-70419401678283419662011-07-21T11:44:00.002-04:002011-07-21T11:50:36.580-04:00

None other than the great Roger Ebert endorses Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric by Ward Farnsworth on his Facebook page:"God help us if blog writers get their hands on this book. It's a lot more fun than it may appear. Farnsworth identifies types of rhetorical strategies and illustrates each one with a wealth of quotations which make the book wonderfully readable. Not dry as dust but

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-72432170497719037642011-07-19T13:30:00.002-04:002011-07-19T13:38:49.866-04:00

Monoplegia n. Impressive medical name for writer's cramp. Overtaken, now that the pen has been replaced by the computer, by osteoarthritis of the small joints – especially, if, like most authors, you use only two fingers.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-21689395900401952592011-07-14T10:19:00.004-04:002011-07-14T10:48:14.373-04:00

If you're interested in print design, you probably are already subscribed to Steven Heller's "The Daily Heller", a daily email from Print Magazine. Yesterday, Heller shared an excerpt from The Justification of Johann Gutenberg, a novel by Blake Morrison, which convincingly fictionalizes Gutenberg's personal need to insure his place in history. Heller writes "[F]or lack of much solid information

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-26570267420963845872011-07-12T16:45:00.004-04:002011-07-12T16:52:02.383-04:00

You know it's a good day when a Godine title is featured on the Jewish Women's Archive "Jewesses with Attitude" blog. Ellen K Rothman was kind enough to contribute a post on the Cone sisters and Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America: Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s and 60s, we got our doses of high culture at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The National Gallery was only an

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-26632231933351752352011-07-12T12:04:00.005-04:002011-07-12T16:29:09.006-04:00

Rhynchocephalian a. Pertaining to an almost extinct order of lizardlike reptiles. The implication of this dictionary definition is that the creature in question is not a lizard, merely like a lizard. In that case, what is it? In any case, suitable as a descriptor for any of your acquaintances who are lizardlike and reptilian.Yes, folks, that is Reptar from Rugrats.If you have a little time, you

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-1772227044936340392011-07-07T09:47:00.007-04:002011-07-07T10:27:53.376-04:00

My name is John Shakespear. I'm a Cambridge boy, a compa-rative literature student, and – you guessed it – one of the summer interns at Godine. When we were recently moving shop to our new office at 15 Court Square, my fellow intern Ellie and I packed up the reference library and occasionally a book would catch our eye. I noticed the name J.M.G. Le Clézio, and I wound up picking up his book

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-19879656309452978942011-07-05T12:37:00.002-04:002011-07-05T12:42:14.489-04:00

Dissave v. Believe it or not, this delightful word means exactly what it ought to – the opposite of "save." To dissave is to spend more than one's income by drawing upon one's savings or capital. In a sense, it could be said that the ultimate object of all saving is dissaving; this is something that not many people realize.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-38719832470101180772011-07-05T12:06:00.003-04:002011-07-05T12:15:15.080-04:00

A big thank you goes out to Colleen Mondor at Bookslut for her review of the new Godine novel Correspondence: An Adventure in Letters by N. John Hall. Colleen recommends Correspondence as "an armchair education on Victorian literature":"Dickerson's evolution from mildly interested to deeply committed is a joy to follow and the many lessons on the Victorians that Hall artfully embeds in the text

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-81996498673317188192011-07-01T09:42:00.003-04:002011-07-01T09:55:47.469-04:00

In honor of the Fourth of July holiday, we wanted to share an excerpt from a poem from Turtle, Swan by the incomparable Mark Doty:Independence DayBenches spangled in shade,billows of bunting in river breeze,the esplanade blazing: blanket to blanketand cooler to cooler, their quarter-million radios’zones of sound overlapping, a quarter-millionhave gathered early for the fireworks.The two of us can

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-20252348878277079432011-06-30T09:03:00.005-04:002011-06-30T09:24:13.749-04:00

Bright and early this past Father’s day morning, this daughter set out for North Andover, MA. I’ll admit I was a little hesitant about my destination, given that it was directly across an area known as First Burying Ground that hosted all sorts of tales. Most luckily, I met neither witch nor foe. Instead, a hot sun, clear skies, and the fresh cut lawns of North Andover bid me welcome.Fellow

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-74222782687552293172011-06-28T15:45:00.002-04:002011-06-28T15:50:58.813-04:00

Interested in learning the inner workings of an established independent book publishing house in downtown Boston? Do you want exposure and experience to everything from editing and proofreading to sales/marketing and production projects? If so, we're looking for a few excellent interns for the Fall!Godine offers general internships designed to expose students and recent graduates to the full

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-87664846746028934342011-06-28T14:42:00.003-04:002011-06-28T14:52:59.014-04:00

Jactation n. Boasting, bragging. A specialized – indeed highly specialized – variant is jactitation, as in "jactitation of a marriage": falsely putting it about that you are married to a particular person. Both words may be of use in wedding reception speechmaking, but the author leaves the specifics of this to the reader.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-16749992290863459952011-06-27T11:12:00.003-04:002011-06-27T11:19:00.223-04:00

A thank you goes to Jan Gardner at the Boston Globe for the Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America mention yesterday:Now comes the story of another unlikely pair of art collectors. Like Herb and Dorothy, the Cone sisters learned about art as they collected. Yet coming from a wealthy family, they didn’t bother with a budget. Still, Etta and Claribel Cone spent their money wisely.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-2089520812514837632011-06-15T13:20:00.005-04:002011-06-15T13:34:39.336-04:00

Another wonderful event by Susan Fillion to celebrate the publication of her book Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America! Last Tuesday Susan came to town and gave her packed audience at the Porter Square Bookstore in Cambridge a mini-course in modern art, complete with slides. To call the event a reading would be misleading—Susan does not so much read from her book as entertain,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-17172892528946322702011-06-14T13:01:00.001-04:002011-06-14T13:02:56.215-04:00

Slubber v. To smear or dirty something, or to wallow in something. Three-year-olds and politicians are good slubberers.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Slubber appears in the Second.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-39327131080294847442011-06-10T12:41:00.003-04:002011-06-10T12:47:51.129-04:00

I'm a fiction writer. I believe in fiction writing—through most of my reading life, it's been stories that have brought me meaning—but my favorite writer today is not a fiction writer, he's an historian. I don't see a paradox between the professional fabricator (fiction writer) and the presumed truth teller (historian). They borrow from one another. The fiction writer uses what he knows of facts

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-78083186177626500892011-06-07T12:05:00.002-04:002011-06-07T12:07:56.637-04:00

Tregetour n. A magician or juggler. In modern terms, a tax accountant.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Tregetour appears in the Second.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-72389965058450952772011-06-06T12:01:00.004-04:002011-06-06T12:16:53.906-04:00

We've been featuring essays on fiction writing by Ernest Hebert on the blog over the last few months. Hebert lives in New Hampshire and teaches writing at Dartmouth College. Godine will publish his new novel, Never Back Down, in September 2011.NH's Keene Sentinel published a profile on Hebert over the weekend:Hebert’s stories are subtly funny, character-driven dramas of New England life. The plot

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-54554236066274033022011-06-06T10:41:00.006-04:002011-06-06T10:58:54.803-04:00

On Wednesday, June 1st, Godine author Susan Fillion had a reading at The Children's Bookstore in Baltimore, MD for her new book Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. She was kind enough to write up the event and provide photos:At 4:30pm it was close to one hundred degrees outside and the A/C in The Children’s Bookstore was straining to keep up. Besides Jo Fruchtman (the owner,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-86372528996503731972011-06-01T10:23:00.005-04:002011-06-01T12:11:36.888-04:00

"This book has not been lost. It has no owner; it is part of the Argentine Free Book Movement, and it was left in this place so that you would find it." This is the handwritten message on the flyleaf inside a copy of El paraíso de los ladrones, a Spanish translation of British author G. K. Chesterton's The Paradise of Thieves, left on a bench in a public square in Buenos Aires. (http://

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-56617615484912819072011-05-31T12:26:00.003-04:002011-05-31T12:36:05.369-04:00

Susan Fillion, author of the new Godine title Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America, has two forthcoming events on the East Coast:Wednesday, June 1st at 4:30pmThe Children's Bookstore737 Deepdene RoadBaltimore, MD 21210Tel: 410-532-2000Tuesday, June 7th at 7:00pmPorter Square BooksPorter Square Shopping Center25 White StreetCambridge, MA 02140Tel: 617-491-2220Fillion will

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-13871922817363215112011-05-31T12:13:00.003-04:002011-05-31T12:19:33.490-04:00

We hope everyone had a nice long weekend!-ICK suffix The Superior Person should be alert not only to the conversational potential of words and word-forms but also to their potential for written use. A nice effect can be obtained by the addition of the archaic "k" to otherwise uninteresting "ic" suffixes. Thus "comick," not "comic"; "physickal" (or better still, "physickall"), not "physical"; "

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-57208643378072503342011-05-25T13:50:00.004-04:002011-05-25T14:07:48.416-04:00

If we were to bushwack our way back to the true source of modern American food culture, we would find that it is not Julia Child, but Elizabeth David. (Her) recipes are all charm. . .— The New YorkerWe just adore Elizabeth David so we were very pleased to hear that Ecco just released a new recipe collection from this witty, brilliant British food writer.T. Susan Chang of the Boston Globe was kind

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-56480234884790149622011-05-24T10:02:00.003-04:002011-05-24T10:12:14.790-04:00

Metagnostic a. Beyond human understanding. Instructions for Assemble-It-Yourself furniture, the Menu function on your mobile phone, any Help programme in any computer application, the International Date Line, etc.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-62824789357318689922011-05-23T12:46:00.002-04:002011-05-23T13:03:12.402-04:00

We are proud to publish Juliana Spahr's third collection of poetry, Well Then There Now, which was just released as a Black Sparrow title in mid-May.From her first poem, written in Honolulu, Hawaii, to the last, written in Berkeley, California, about her childhood in Appalachia, in the collection Spahr takes us on a wild patchwork journey backwards and forwards in time and space, tracking change

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-34973710983891978802011-05-19T09:09:00.004-04:002011-05-19T13:20:17.757-04:00

If so, follow Bob Carr's lead and gain inspiration from reading As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. In his memoir, Lee walks from his tiny village in a remote corner of Gloucestershire to London, and knowing one Spanish phrase, he decides to take the ferry to Spain. Unbeknownst to Lee, Spain in 1934 was on the verge of war, and, inexorably, he becomes entangled in the passionate,

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-6043209077332324772011-05-18T12:35:00.003-04:002011-05-18T12:44:50.342-04:00

Karen Rosenberg at the New York Times reviews the current “Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore” exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York City (1109 Fifth Ave at 92nd Street):“Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore,” at the Jewish Museum, samples the extraordinary trove of European art amassed by two American spinsters in the first

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-84203542294381628262011-05-17T14:04:00.002-04:002011-05-17T14:15:18.514-04:00

Hypnophobia n. The morbid dread of falling asleep. Especially when you're sitting right across the table from the guest speaker.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Hypnophobia appears in the Third.

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-89828184307568296332011-05-17T10:08:00.005-04:002011-05-17T14:06:05.877-04:00

“People in Baltimore couldn’t help notice the sisters when they ventured out to the Lyric Theatre. Claribel would enter first, head held high, carrying her considerable girth forward at a regal pace. The light of the low-hanging chandeliers illuminated her colorful scarves and outsized silver hat pin. Etta followed a minute or so later, her eyes fixed on the floor several paces ahead of her

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-12488845824777638292011-05-13T12:51:00.003-04:002011-05-13T12:59:33.309-04:00

On this beautiful Friday please enjoy this video of Maine Poet Laureate Wesley McNair's remarks at the 2011 Poetry Celebration at the Blaine House in Augusta, ME on April 20, 2011.Maine Poet Laureate Wesley McNair: Blaine House Remarks from David Turner on Vimeo."The ultimate goal of every single poem is a change of mind or a change of heart, not only for the reader but for the writer. You can’t

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-5888196339487905382011-05-12T11:18:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:30:04.772-04:00

A big thank you goes to Michael Dirda today at The Washington Post for his great review of Correspondence: An Adventure in Letters which Godine just released. Here's an excerpt:If you loved Helene Hanff’s “84, Charing Cross Road,” this is the summer book for you. As you may recall, Hanff’s little classic of bibliophilia presents the letters between a feisty New York writer and a gentlemanly

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-83070526575521161312011-05-11T13:22:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:30:04.422-04:00

Back when we were both very young, Godine had the honor of publishing the first two poetry books of Mark Doty, who has since gone on to considerable and deserved fame and fortune, winning the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008, as well as honors from the National Book Critics Circle, the LA Times Book Prize, a Whiting Award, and (as the first American in its history) the T.S. Eliot Prize.Doty

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-54909568405299013822011-05-10T12:28:00.003-04:002011-05-10T12:37:04.446-04:00

Neoteny – n. An indefinite prolongation of the period of immaturity, with the retention of infantile or juvenile qualities into adulthood. Classic condition of the sports commentator, the lexicographer, and of course the schoolteacher.Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-7233132209677217842011-05-10T09:16:00.003-04:002011-05-10T09:22:43.912-04:00

When a writer identifies with a character, especially with a protagonist who stands in for him/herself, the tendency is to protect the character in the same way that one protects one's self. The readers (like the writer) don't really know what's wrong but they sense that nothing really bad will happen to this character. The result: no dramatic tension in the story, a situation that usually leads

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-59429967790021381082011-05-09T10:47:00.003-04:002011-05-09T10:54:48.174-04:00

In honor of Women’s History Month (which I recognize ended a month ago – I’m dreadfully behind, okay?), I picked up Miss Alcott’s E-mail: Yours for Reform of All Kinds by Kit Baake. The cover looked intriguing – Alcott’s face blown up to life-size with a peace sign tattooed on her cheek – and Little Women was a staple piece of literature during my childhood. I must confess that, reading through

Staff at David R. Godinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09524934977522751807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8739411471155620668.post-43692421607768451652011-05-06T10:18:00.003-04:002011-05-06T14:00:17.114-04:00

Josie Leavitt from The Flying Pig Bookstore in Shelburne, VT offers a great post on a recent meeting with David R. Godine on PW's "ShelfTalker" today:I think it’s safe to say that David R. Godine is not like other publishers for a variety of reasons. His books are small print-run gems. The paper, the craftsmanship, the quality and the eclectic catalog, all make for a lovely buying session. What

Carrie Dieringerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13969878414373641108noreply@blogger.com0